> Winburn to sue city over suit
> Appeal of gun case a waste, he says
>
> BY ROBERT ANGLEN
> The Cincinnati Enquirer
>
> After losing a vote to stop Cincinnati City Council from appealing the
> dismissal of a lawsuit against gun makers, Councilman Charlie Winburn
today
> will sue the city.
>
> Calling the appeal a “wasteful and illegal expenditure of municipal funds
in
> pursuit of frivolous litigation against the firearms industry,” Mr.
Winburn
> is asking for a restraining order to prevent the city from spending any
more
> money on the suit.
>
> He also wants the Hamilton County Common Pleas Court to prohibit further
> litigation against gun manufacturers.
>
> “We are wasting city tax dollars. I want the mayor and City Council to
join
> me in stopping this,” Mr. Winburn said Monday.
>
> “This is like taking $100,000 in $1 bills and dropping it out of an
> airplane.”
>
> The city – one of nearly 30 across the nation suing gun manufacturers to
> recover the costs of gun-related violence – lost its lawsuit Oct. 7 when
> Common Pleas Judge Robert Ruehlman threw it out. The city has appealed.
>
> The judge said the misuse of firearms is beyond gun makers’ control, and
> rejected the city’s claim that manufacturers were negligent in their
design
> of handguns because they failed to include adequate safe ty devices.
>
> City Manager John Shirey said he was unaware of Mr. Winburn’s lawsuit.
>
> He said the City Council made the decision to appeal the case.
>
> The city’s attorney, Stanley Chesley, has said the judge was premature to
> dismiss the case so early in the judicial process.
>
> Mr. Winburn’s lawsuit alleges that the “net effect” of suits against the
gun
> manufacturers is to drive up the costs of firearms which are passed on to
> the consumer.
>
> Mr. Winburn said he is filing the suit with another citi zen who is not
> identified in the lawsuit.
>
> Their lawyers, David Buda in Columbus and Stephen Halbrook in Fairfax,
Va.,
> are both gun advocates, Mr. Winburn said.
>
> While he is willing to put up his own money to fight the city, Mr. Winburn
> said he doesn’t think it it will cost much.
>
> “I will use my own money if I have to,” he said. “My wife and I will sell
> some of our small investments.”
>